ABSTRACT
Since 1995, the ongoing protestations emanating from Okinawa have served to remind Japanese society of the existence of the ‘Okinawa Problem’. We must, however, ask ourselves what exactly this problem is. In the first five years following the beginning of the protests, a number of things have happened. First, it was announced that the American base at Futenma would be relocated to a new site within Okinawa Prefecture. A referendum was then held among the citizens of Nago (the site chosen for the relocation) in which the relocation plan was rejected by a bare majority, despite the efforts of the Japanese government. This was followed by the election of a new mayor of Nago, and also of a new governor of the Prefecture. Both the new mayor and the new governor accept the relocation programme. Thus, the relocation of Futenma base was ‘decided’. In the process, Okinawan society became fractured along multiple lines of division, and the ‘Okinawa Problem’ appeared to have been reduced to an issue relating to Okinawa’s ongoing struggle between ‘ideals’ and ‘reality’.
